


Memory Boy

by kaila1710



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dream Team SMP Setting (Video Blogging RPF), Mentioned Karl Jacobs, Mentioned Ranboo (Video Blogging RPF), Minecraft, Other, Time Travel, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29085468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaila1710/pseuds/kaila1710
Summary: Concept for the Dream SMP lore: Ranboo (Marcus) is Karl (Karl) before his memory was lost.
Kudos: 12





	1. The Beach Episode

**Author's Note:**

> just for fun :) hope you enjoy, I will be updating it with new chapters as Karl continues to stream takes of the SMP. This is not a fanfiction, I am not shipping anyone and I am fully aware that Ranboo is a minor, just a story :) This is inspired by Karl Jacobs Tales of the SMP lore streams, I'm sure you came from there but if you haven't twitch.tv/karljacobs is where these are streamed every week (on Saturdays I think).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Concept for the Dream SMP lore: Ranboo (Marcus) is Karl (Karl) before he lost his memory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just for fun :) hope you enjoy, I will be updating it with new chapters as Karl continues to stream takes of the SMP. This is not a fanfiction, I am not shipping anyone and I am fully aware that Ranboo is a minor, just a story :) This is inspired by Karl Jacobs Tales of the SMP lore streams, I'm sure you came from there but if you haven't twitch.tv/karljacobs is where these are streamed every week (on Saturdays I think).

This great nation hid a special soul. Among this city was a being from the unknown. Someone with great terror and accomplishment held to its name had disappeared. Or so they thought.

Marcus

The scent of burning wax wafted into my nose as I propped myself up from my elbows. The wooden shack around me was pitch black with one melting candle on a bedside table. I reached for the floor but my hand rested upon a leather book. I dragged the light closer and carefully opened the dusty book. The pages were smooth and ink looked old. Multiple pages had been torn out and there was only one legible page. The page read:

Don’t forget who you are. 

Fear crept up my spine as I frantically searched my brain for any recollection of anything. The deafening silence rang inside of my hollow brain. My memory was nowhere to be found, only a blank emptiness filled the space behind my skull. Drops of sweat turned to tears as the realisation had settled in. Restart. I pressed restart. I don’t know whether it was accidentally or on purpose. I’m just an unusually large baby. 

I was confused. I still knew how to walk, how to eat, how to do what every human my age could do. The hole in my brain was the knowledge of my past. I had no idea where I had come from or who my family were.

The door slammed open and a short figure of a boy burst into the room, panting. His ruffled hair and heavy breathing meant he had run to this house. Alarmed by the abrupt arrival I asked what was wrong. He started screaming and speaking noises to me which I couldn’t understand, and then started speaking.

“You missed school and I was worried about you.” he said in a disappointed manner. It was evident that I had just had a lie in and skipped school. 

“I..uh..what’s your name?” I asked timidly as it was obvious that I was supposed to know him.

“You- What?” he said as he broke into hysterical laughter. “God you really must be sick.” 

“Hello I am Toby, and you are?” He said sarcastically.

“I-I don’t know.” I muttered under my breath. He sensed something wrong and silenced his laughter. 

“You’re Marcus. Are you alright?” He seemed concerned. I told him what happened and he understood. We sat for an hour, he told me who I was, who he was, what everything was.

I was Marcus. An exceptionally tall blonde 17 year old who recently started college with Toby. They have been going for two weeks so they barely knew each other but were already good friends. 

“I have to go help my friend with his film project. Will you be alright on your own?” Toby says as he makes his way to the door.

“Yes.” I lie. I didn’t want to take up his time.

“See you later, memory boy.” He shut the door behind him as a gust of cold air blew through. Unsteadily, I got on my feet and stumbled to the bathroom. The mirror displayed a dishevelled man. I washed my face and went down to make a bowl of pasta.

After an hour of trying to work the stove, I dragged my tired self back to my bedroom. Beyond the window was a sea of clouds clogging the sky. Rain thumped on the roof and washed up into small puddles on the pavement. The wind brung whistles down the chimney and the temperature to 8 degrees. Searching for a blanket I came across a chest. A sheet of dust covers the engravement ‘K.J.’ The gold plated latch clicked open and uncovered a hefty pile of books. The titles were strange - ‘The lost city of Mizu’ and ‘Beach Episode’. Opening them up I saw not a diary entry but a whole novel. Reading through these was an adventure and a half. The initials K.J. were repeated often. I recognised it but I couldn’t quite understand where from. Toby had told me of the local library, so I decided to take a trip there. I’m sure the people there would appreciate these amazing stories.

I pulled a black raincoat over my shoulders and headed out. The rain drummed my head as I splashed through the puddles. A couple streets later I was at the library, which welcomed me with warm hands. The library was old, it looked like it hadn’t been refurbished in years. I walked, dripping, up to the librarian. She was a sweet 70 year old woman who had a bright smile on her face. She took the books with pleasure but on opening them her face dropped. She scanned the book with her hawk-like eyes and looked up at me for an explanation. 

“Where did you find this?” She asked with a complex expression on her face. Her eyes showed fear with a hint of anxiety. The books trembled in her hands as she waited for an answer.

“I just found them under my bed when I woke up and-” I stopped abruptly as I saw her expression filled with happiness and sadness. Like it reminded her of someone. 

“Why?” I ask, I was curious why these books were so important. 

She stored the books under her desk and said “Don’t worry about it.” She turned to another customer and went on with her day as if nothing had happened. 

“Marcus! Hey! Over here!” Another tall blonde 17 year old was shouting my name. The librarian glared at him and he rolled his eyes. He grabbed my arm and yanked me out into the cold afternoon. 

“What’s Toby on about? He said you’re all messed up in the head or something” He said as the sun started to shine through the clouds. His phone started ringing and he picked it up. He started shouting and cursing into the phone:

“NO NO NO I CAN’T WALK BETTY AND WALTER I’M OUT WITH A FRIEND! NO MOM!” He hung up and carried on walking with an annoyed expression on his face. 

“Don’t you just hate it when you’re busy and your parents just ask you to do stuff even though you’re clearly in the middle of something? What’s the point? If I’m out of the house then clearly I can’t do errands or anything because I am not there to do it. It just doesn’t make- Toby! Why isn’t he talking?”

He’s interrupted himself mid sentence as Toby walks up to them with a grin on his face. 

“Memory boy here has lost his memory. What grade did you get for the project?” 

“I got an A. Thanks for the help. What do you mean he lost his memory?”

“He says he doesn’t remember anything. I’m sure he’ll snap out of it. Anyway, I gotta go get something from the library.”

“Yeah I need to go walk my dogs. See ya.” They both ran off in different directions and left me stranded in the wet sunshine. 

Karl

The library looked great. The wooden floor was polished and the velvet red banners hanging from the walls were beautiful. There were bookcases reaching the ceiling filled with all sorts of books from myths to maths. As the son of the mayor I got to get a glimpse of the glory first. It was just me and a huge hall of mystery. I collected a few books and escorted myself back home. 

One of the books, ‘Tales of the City’ had a peculiar story line. When I was reading the book a letter fell out. It was sealed with a gold-printed stamp imprinted with a symbol of a feather. Carefully tearing the paper, a folded piece of paper filled with words of ink fell into my hands. It stated:

Dear descendant,

Listen here. I am a time traveller, as are you. By the time you read this my time here will be over, but the stories cannot be left untold. Time travellers aren’t made without reason. You have a purpose. Your purpose is to tell the stories from the past and future to the present mankind to prepare them for what is to come. Beware, for the side-effects of travelling through the dimensions can be harmful. As soon as you travel identify what happens and use your travels wisely as it can get worse. When you have fulfilled your duty another will come and take up your position. Please, be careful, it is a very dangerous game that we are playing. Behind the wardrobe. 

From, J.J.

Scared and confused I scrunched the paper into my pocket and tried to push it out of my thoughts as it kept picking at my brain. 10:45. I had to go help my father soon, but the ambiguity of this letter wouldn’t leave my mind. Reluctantly, I pushed the wardrobe and it revealed a glass bottle of clear liquid, but not quite water. The label attached said ‘time to travel’. I was surprised that this actually worked, so without thinking I drank a sip and fell into a deep trance. 

The golden rays blinded my eyes as I woke up on a beach. The sun overheated my body as the waves rushed to my side. Shaking the sand out of my shoes I see myself surrounded by an infinite sea of blue, shimmering as the light bounces off of it. 5 familiar people were present, yet I couldn’t quite make out who. The six of us traversed a treasure hunt. It was like a board game, but real life. This dream felt so surreal, it was like I had actually teleported to a different dimension. 

When underwater looking for the loot, I went too deep and started to drown. I was gasping for air, trying to alert someone. Luckily I managed to hook my hand on the edge of a boat and pull myself up. It was then when I remembered how I got here. Maybe this wasn’t a dream. When you die in a dream, you wake up. When you die in real life, you don’t. I was not going to risk dying again. 

I desperately wanted to get back and managed to find the treasure. Being the first to find it I was awarded a prize. I received a notebook. My initials were engraved in the front and the pages inside were empty. A small bottle dropped into my hands with a label ‘take me back’. Hurriedly I drank the contents and once again fell to the ground.

When I rubbed my eyes open my bedroom appeared before my eyes. Frantically I checked my watch. 10:46. I couldn’t remember the time was before but I was visibly panicking. When my mother came into my room to tell me to go to the farm I screamed in shock. She was bewildered and asked if anything was alright. I said that she just scared me a bit. 

As she left I took deep breaths and tried to process what just happened. How did that work? Did I just - time travel? I remember vividly the beach and the boats and the- the notebook. The notebook! I searched for the notebook sure that this would prove that this was a dream. But alas, a palm-sized notebook lay in my hand with the same initials on the front.

The letter from the library stated ‘identify what happens and use your travels wisely as it can get worse’. I scanned my brain for anything that has changed since I drank the first mixture. I was afraid to drink more of the time travel concoction because I was unsure of the side effects.

I placed the notebook and the glass bottle behind the wardrobe and sealed the gap. I was thinking too much and developing a headache from all of the questions I have which have been left unanswered. 

I went down to the farm with Alford and tried to push away these thoughts to the back of my brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you liked the first chapter :) I don't mind any suggestions or criticisms that will help me benefit my work, just please don't hate as this is my first proper project. Twitter - kaila1710 for updates


	2. The Lost City of Mizu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marcus starts to investigate his past as Karl finds out his power comes at a cost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 :) hope you enjoy, this is lore from the Dream SMP and these chapters are inspired by Tales of the SMP, which are streamed live on twitch.tv/karljacobs. Karl's was short last time so it's longer this time.

Marcus 

When I was walking in the fields with Toby, we came across an unexpected pile of dirt which made us stumble across our path. We dug up the dirt which uncovered a dust-covered silver plaque.

“Alfredo?” Toby asks with confusion, “What is Alfredo?”

He passed me the ornament. I brushed off the dirt and polished it with the sleeve of my jumper. 

“Alford. It says Alford.” I said to myself, repeating the word to try and find an unlocked memory.

“Oh my bad, sorry” He said, jumping over the puddles. A few minutes later I heard a faint scream and ran up to see Toby on the ground, covered in mud, laughing his head off. Amused by the sight, I helped him up and we headed back to our houses. 

“Hey, do you know what this is?” I asked my mom as I entered the house. I shook off the rain from my boots and handed it over. She eyed the piece of metal.

“I’m not sure. Keep it, we might find a use for it later.” She responded. I took the plaque to my room and kept it in the chest that was once filled with books. The books. 

A day later I read the few books that were left behind which contained some questionable thoughts. One of them was just one word: dré. 

It was then when I realised that I was away from home and there were probably people I should contact. The problem is that I couldn’t remember who. I searched on my phone and found a contact, so I decided to give it a go.

“Hello?” A deep voice picked up the phone and crackled through the speaker.

“Uh, hello, I’m Marcus -I think” 

“I know. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night?”

I looked outside and saw the sun setting. Confused, I asked “What? It’s 6PM, not midnight.”

“Well you’re in a different country? I was asleep. Are you telling me that I woke up for you to tell me we’re in different timezones? Goodnight.” He hung up.

Well that didn’t go well. Too scared to annoy anyone else, I put the phone away.

That night a blinding light seeped through the cracks of the chest. I tried to cover it up half-asleep, but new spots kept appearing. I laid on my back and tried to remember as I had been putting it off for a long time now. 

I didn’t just appear. I must have been someone else. Surely someone will have realised someone went missing. The other person had just vanished and no one is asking questions? The librarian. The librarian! I had to go talk to her otherwise I would just be knowledge-less of my past.

The next morning before school I took a trip to the library. A contact named ‘Thomas’ started ringing me. Hoping it would be someone I knew I answered.

“Hello? Hello? Marcus? Memory Boy? You there?” He said multiple words at once. I recognised that voice. It was the guy from a week ago. The one who shouted a lot.

“Yes, hello?” I asked as his tone was stern.

“Why did I just get a phone call saying that you called my brother and told him that it was 6PM in the middle of the night?”

“Uh, I was trying to find someone in my contacts that I would know. I don’t remember much. Memory Boy?” I said hoping it would resolve the issue.

“He’s pissed at me because of you.Why would you do that? If you really don’t have any memory, why didn’t you just ask me or Toby?”

I told him my thought process from last night but that didn’t make things any better.

“Phone him. Phone him right now and tell him that it wasn’t my fault and it was completely yours.” He said as he searched for forgiveness from his older brother.

“Is his name Wilbur?” I asked, looking through my recently called contacts.

“Yes. Wow you really don’t remember anything. I’m going to go now, don’t mess this up.” He hangs up the phone as I rung up Wilbur.

“Hi!” I hear a woman's voice pick up the phone which caught me off guard. I heard an abundance of chatter. He was out. 

“Oh, hello I’m looking for Wilbur? Thomas’s brother?” I sounded like a parent. 

“He’s at the toilet, but we are about to board the plane. Do you want me to pass a message?”

“Just tell him that I’m really sorry for calling him in the middle of the night and it was completely my mistake and not Thomas’s.”

She laughs. “Ok, see you soon!”

I was curious where Wilbur was going and who he was travelling with so I messaged Thomas.

I tucked my phone into my pocket and carried on to investigate this weird scenario I had been put in. 

Just as I had hoped, the librarian was there with the same bright smile on her face. 

“Hello! How can I help you today young sir?” She hadn’t realised that I was the same person who gave her those books. 

“Can I talk with you? About some books that I donated to the library last week? You gave me a scared look and I wanted to know why.”

The realisation spread on her face as her default cheery librarian voice faded away. She hurried me into a room with two chairs in it. We sat down and she started talking.

Karl

Down the corridor the telephone started buzzing. I picked it up to see who was calling

“Hello, is this Karl?” George asked from the other end of the phone.

“Yes, hello! Shall we meet at Clifton?”

Muffled screams came out of the speaker. “Hey-no-stop! I’m on a call! Sorry, Nicolas was trying to steal my boots. Okay, see you there!” He started shouting at his brother and hung up. 

I grabbed my own boots (and an extra pair) and headed out towards the park. On the way there Alexis ran up behind me

“Woah, hello! You scared me!” I said in a shaky voice.

“Well that was my intention. We’re going to the gardens?” He asked. 

“Yeah, George is coming but I think his brother stole his shoes.” 

“Well, expected from Nicolas.” He said. Laughing, we walked down to Clifton gardens.

The sight of George huddled with his bare feet perching on the edge of a bench cracked me and Alexis up into laughter. We ran over and gave him the spare shoes as he scowled at us with an annoyed face. We walked and talked whilst George waddled in my little sisters pink shoes which were one size too small. The incident with the beach kept trying to escape my mind. We started to talk about the new library. 

“How was it Karl? I haven’t been yet.” 

“It’s great! There are loads of books and it's really warm.” George answers for me.

“Yeah.” I say half-hartedly. My brain throbbed with too much knowledge to contain. Afraid I would say something, I go home with a headache for an excuse. I tell George he can keep the shoes and I head on home. 

The time-travelling was driving me insane. When I got back home I ran past my crying sister to my room and shut the door. I reached behind the wardrobe and grabbed the leather-coated notebook. I opened it and started writing with the quill from the table. The knowledge that had been gnawing the back of my brain finally spilled out onto the page. When ink left the paper and I had sealed the book, my younger sister burst in and started yelling for her shoes. 

“WHERE ARE MY SHOES! DID YOU TAKE THEM? I BET YOU TOOK THEM!” Hailey ripped my room to bits as she searched. As she approached the wardrobe I remembered the bottle. 

“No! Wait.” I said, panicking.

“Tell me where they are! I need to go now!” She said angrily.

“I lent them to George because his brother stole his shoes.”

“What? If his brother stole his shoes doesn’t mean you have to steal mine! So you’re telling me that he’s out in the park with pink shoes on? Aren’t they too small for him?” 

“He might be at his house now. “ I said as I tried to calm her down. 

“Well come on. You are going to go to his house and get those shoes. Be quick!” She says as she slammed the door behind her. 

All I wanted to do was leave this all behind. I grabbed the liquid and drank it. I’m sure it’ll be fine. The room vanished into thin air and once again I was on an island, but with a door. 

Three fishermen and I step through the door and enter an underwater city. A big sign framed with coral reads ‘The Lost City of Mizu’

It was a town made of pristine glass and rustic wood. There was coral of all colours, red, blue yellow, green, each one differently shaped. This covered the land, filling it with life, and lanterns lit up the area. 

They entered into a hall with a big table. The natives of this land seemed to have died out as it looked like it hadn’t been touched in years. While Cleetus collected a copious amount of dust, Benjamin and I went down the stairs and met an elderly man. We hurried Charles and Cleetus to join us and tried talking to him.

“Hello? Excuse me?” Benjamin asked. 

“Hey! Talk. Now.” Charles took a different approach.

He abruptly turned around and revealed year old scars. Taken aback by his quick response we took a step back and let him speak.

“Hello! I am Ranbob. Welcome to The Lost City of Mizu!” His voice was hoarse, it sounded like we were the first people he had talked to in years. 

“Hello!” I said.

“Who is this?” He asked as we looked behind him. Cleetus was bent behind him sniffing the stranger.

“Hey! Cleetus stop! That’s rude, you’re not supposed to do that.” Scolded Benjamin as Charles quietly chuckled. Benjamin grabbed Cleetus to the side as he asked what he did wrong. 

“Let me give you a tour.” Ranbob said, with a slight hint of concern on his face. 

The four of us were led through the underwater maze and explored this once successful nation’s past. 

We came across bizarre names like Quackity, Fundy, and Skeppy were mentioned. They each had themed rooms with information about them and their role in society. There were many books about the history of a country named ‘L’manburg’, which I guessed was where all of these people lived. There was one room which was locked with ‘DRE’. The last bit was cut off.

Cleetus, with the help of Charles managed to climb a tree and find a book containing hidden scriptures from L’manburg. We had lost Ranbob, but when Cleetus acquired the book he appeared with crimson eyes with a blade. He recited a chant, mentioning that anyone who touched the tree dies. He started chasing after a screaming Cleetus.

“Karl. Karl! KARL! HELP ME DOWN! WE HAVE TO GO!” Charles screamed at the top of his lungs from half way up the tree. With Cleetus running around frantically whilst being chased by a rabid Ranbob my only choice was to save Charles. 

“HERE!” He grabbed my hand as I yanked him out of the tree. 

“He’s coming for you! Come on.” Benjamin told us as Ranbob, having trapped Cleetus, was running for Charles. We bolted for the door and pulled the lever, sealing the gap between us and Ranbob. And Cleetus. 

“Cleetus.” Charles said as realisation kicked in that he had just lost his friend.  
“We have to do this for Cleetus. We have got to get into that room that we couldn’t open.” I remembered the letter from my real life. ‘prepare them for what is to come’. 

On the way to the key we encountered a pit of lava with a floating obstacle course. Knowing we had a limited amount of time, Benjamin jumped onto the course. In a rush, he slipped and fell. Charles and I were scared for our lives, as our friends had died and it was only us left. I managed to traverse the course and obtain the key. We ran to the vault and unlocked the cage which was covered in lime green. Glittering purple clothes on mannequins formed a pathway to a green figurine with an animated face encased in glass. 

Charles broke the glass and we stepped inside. The glass replaced itself as Ranbob emerged from the shadows. We fell silent as we knew he had the power to kill us as he did so to Cleetus.

“Everybody here had an idol that they worshipped, mine was Dream.” Ranbob said, menacingly holding a diamond sword.

“Him?” Charles asked with suspicion. “Was he a good man?”

“Yes. He was a very good man, depending on what you think.” He guarded the glass blocking all entries of escape. “No-one leaves here.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, thought I knew exactly what he meant. The intensity rose as Charles knew what was coming. 

Ranbob lifted his weapon and slayed Charles.

“CHARLES! NO!” I scream as I watch my friend die before my eyes a third time. I make a run for it but he manages to swipe the sword through my chest. 

My ears start ringing with high pitched shrieks from an evidently frustrated Hailey. I slip my shoes on halfway and waddle quickly to Georges house.

“Karl? I thought you had a headache.” George says as I stand on his front doorstep. I say nothing as my memory seems to have a hole in. I couldn’t remember why I was there but he somehow understood. He gave me a pair of shoes and closed the door. Confused, I walked back to my house. My sister took the shoes from my hands and left the house.

It came back to me. Not the shoes, the library. The note. The travel. Everything. ‘Side-effects’. The side effect was memory, it had to be. You don’t just forget what happened two seconds ago. But then again, it may have been two seconds here but not in there. He said it gets worse every time you go through. 

Scared, I grabbed a notebook and wrote. I wrote about the Lost City of Mizu, how our fate was alike to those who once lived there. I grabbed a separate notebook and wrote how I felt. 

I ended with ‘Don’t forget who you are.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't mind any suggestions or criticisms that will help me benefit my work, please don't hate. Twitter - kaila1710 for updates :)

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked the first chapter :) I don't mind any suggestions or criticisms that will help me benefit my work, just please don't hate as this is my first proper project.


End file.
